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Mario's Picross: 30th anniversary

Just in time for its 30th anniversary, Nintendo added the Game Boy game, Mario's Picross, to its Switch Online Expansion Pack. The portmanteau "picross" refers to the fact that each puzzle is solved by cross-referencing both vertical and horizontal numeric clues on a grid, creating a picture. The game is barely known in the States, though it led to several Japanese sequels.

Each puzzle is made up of columns and rows of boxes, somewhat like Sudoku, either 5x5, 10x10, or 15x15. Each row and each column is labeled with one or more numbers. These show how many consecutive boxes in that column or row must be filled in. When all the right boxes have been filled in, a simple picture, like a cactus or frog, will have been formed. Before you fill any boxes, you can accept a "hint," meaning one column and one row are filled in for you—a significant headstart, which I enjoy. To solve these puzzles, you have to use logic to deduce which boxes are the targets. For example, if it says "3," three particular boxes in a row need to be filled. If it says "1 1 2," you must fill a certain box, another box not next to that box, and two more boxes that are next to each other but not next to the first two. In other words, there must be a gap of at least one unfilled box between each target box or series of boxes. In some cases, it's clear which boxes must be filled. If, for example, a column of fifteen squares says "7 7," then every box except the middle one must be filled. When it's not obvious, you must cross-reference columns and rows to find the solutions. You can mark a spot as empty by pressing B instead of A. This helps in seeing which boxes must be filled by process of elimination. I won't try to explain this any further, as one simply needs to play the game to understand. 

A tutorial explains the game.

You have thirty minutes to solve each puzzle. A picture of Mario appears above the timer, and that is the extent of his involvement in Mario's Picross. Solving can be sped up by making educated guesses. However, every mistake costs time: the first error two minutes, four for another, and eight for each after that. (A fifth mistake is thus always fatal.) The game tracks your fastest time. However, since the pattern doesn't change, your memory will give you a massive advantage. In addition to your best time, the puzzle-selection screen shows how many times you've tried each puzzle.

There are four "courses," each with 64 "problems" to choose from: easy, kinoko (Japanese for "mushroom"), star, and time trial. You can't play star until you've completed all the kinoko stages. The easy puzzles go quickly as they are smaller. The time trial mode appears only after you have beaten every other puzzle. This is the most advanced mode: you are dealt one of 64 random puzzles (thus inhibiting memorization), and mistakes are not indicated at all.

The puzzles are "problems" to be solved.

The game features three save-data slots. By pressing START during play, you can choose between five simple background themes or no music at all. The music is basic, not like the catchy earworms of a Tetris or Dr. Mario. You can also save your progress mid-puzzle: next time you play, you pick up where you left off.

I enjoyed my limited time with this game, but it didn't wow me, and I don't expect to come back to it. I'm not surprised it didn't catch on in America. The market share for this sort of puzzle game is small, but give it a try if you like number-based logic puzzles like Sudoku.

Grade: B-

Linked Review
"A great, addictive piece of software, and a nice start for Picross beginners."
— Marcel van Duyn, Nintendo Life, 8/10

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